Da  da  diary!
by ladyeiramae
Summary: Kuroro is a father. Wait... What!
1. Chapter 1

**Da-da-diary**

_Kuroro is a father. Wait… What?_

**A/N:** Totally unbeta-ed, unrevised, unre-read... XD Dedicated to Soran Ibrahim! Enjoy! :D

-x-

Eight swift figures zigzagged like shadows in the darkness of the forest. Every single one of them seemed to be determined to pursue a lone figure that had so far outran them for at least half a day now. It seems that the man did not intend to land a fight against anyone… yet.

"Now! Get him!" shouted someone from behind the thinner wall of foliage on the clearing ahead.

Another second later, he found himself barely dodging an arm of some sort from grabbing his ankles. He dove away from it and somersaulted before landing deftly on a nearby branch to grasp what had just transpired not a second ago.

A few yards roughly from his left, he saw a burly, bearded man who was holding out his arm in a snake-like pose. With Gyo, he saw that just above the bearded man was a Nen-form of a larger arm with long, dexterous-looking, skeletal fingers. It was not to be doubted. That was the arm that tried to grab him earlier.

"He's up there!" a voice shouted from somewhere below and he barely had time to evade an onslaught of metal rain.

Needles, real, quite sharp, long and pointy, streamed from his right side and he hastily jumped off the tree to cloak in the darkness but his way was blocked by a Nen-induced illusion of a tree. He stepped backwards once, not taking any chances on what danger the illusion may pose. He felt the presence of the needle-thrower closer than before and seeing that killing the idiots would be faster than running from them, he leapt away from the ground and towards the nearest rusty Zetsu he can sense.

-x-

As expected, it did not even take more than a full three minutes before he was able to hunt down and kill his assailants. However, someone with far more advanced Zetsu had managed to skitter away while he was busy cutting off the pleas from someone else's throat. He was thinking of letting the soul go but his thoughts wandered to the last time he committed the mistake of letting one of his victims escape.

"Kuruta," he said, ending the act of the other altogether.

Another shadow emerged from the forest and landed soundlessly a few yards in front of the other man.

"Lucifer."

"How long have you been tailing me? An entire day now, no? Haven't you gotten tired of playing around yet, kid?"

"I don't have time for your games, Lucifer."

Lucifer, the ebony-haired man, dropped his last victim's severed head and dusted his clothes off nonchalantly at the statement. "Well, I had managed to evade you for a longer time. You are destined to die if we do things your way and I had been very humane and generous since you are such a bloom who had not reached its peak yet and—"

"I told you I got no time for your useless crap-talk, Kuroro Lucifer," the younger one, blonde and red-eyed, snapped, his aura flaring angrily around him. "Let's fight. Now or later, I will still have it my way and it is not my turn to die this time," he calmly stated as a grim smile graced his face.

Kuroro frowned. Here he was, being overly charitable to the young Kuruta whose existence he hated so much to end. After all, as Hisoka said before he left: the boy still has so much more to gain and to give. He will be a better and more formidable opponent someday… not to mention more beautiful.

Ruby eyes glazed with seemingly everlasting loathing stared fiercely against his blank obsidian ones. They promised imminent bodily harm and yet no matter how his rational thought prioritized self-preservation above all others, he could not help but gaze back, ostensibly mesmerized by the blazing fire of their depths.

"What are you staring at?" the blonde indignantly shrieked a few moments later. "I said, let's fight!"

"Ah, yes… Apparently, a pretty sight caught my eyes," Kuroro politely replied. A smug grin crept on his face as he added, "I apologize for my inattentiveness. Worry not, for I shall only gaze at you from—"

The sentence was cut off by an angry fist from a blushing Kuruta.

-x-

"T-t-that man…" he panted. "I-it's impossible!"

He then slowly felt for his right rib where a long gash continued to pour out more blood every breathing moment. He knew that he will be dead soon. The moment that the man – or monster, whatever he is, finished killing the last of the hunters, he will surely look and kill his last victim, him, to clean off the slate.

"There's s-seven of us… h-he…" he muttered to himself. And just as he was preparing to meet his doom behind a huge boulder, he realized that the Master Thief had not come after him yet. Getting curious as to what might have caused the renowned mass murderer to cease from ending his piteous existence, he risked a glance over the boulder.

There was a blonde boy, just about fifteen to eighteen of age, conversing with Kuroro Lucifer. He blinked his eyes twice and realized that he is not hallucinating and the boy indeed has blood-red eyes. It does not matter that he does not have enough to summon his Gyo and live, he can still feel the angry aura of the boy whipping dangerously around the frail-looking body.

"A-a K-kuruta!" he gasped at the realization and then suppressed a scream at sudden pain that resulted from the gasp. "The last one…"

He crouched lower and grasped at his mortal wound which only seemed to worsen the flow of crimson life instead of slowing it down. He silently cursed and raised his remaining working hand as if to inspect his palm for any answers.

His family's prized Nen technique, handed down from generation to generation, is not a ruthless one. Rather, when he was still young, his kin always reminded him that people change as they grow and the technique was not meant to be a curse but a chance for the target to change over time. He had laughed at it many times before but had already mastered it long before his naïveté had been taken away by the harshness of real life. He had believed his father's – his master's, words until the older man's chase for righteousness had taken away his own life.

Until now, he had never used the technique. However, he still knew that he still have enough Nen to emit to complete the formidable curse. As he knew, the curse does not intend to kill anyone and it cannot. As a matter of fact, if looked upon by the victim correctly, it might even rectify old sins and straighten crooked paths. Time, after all, is the greatest healer, creator and destroyer of all.

However, of course he intended Kuroro Lucifer to die. His master died from his hand after being assigned to catch the elusive Master Thief. And now his comrades had left him on his own on the same manner. Surely, that should be enough reason to want the demise of the Bandit Prince.

"All b-bets on the K-kuruta then," he whispered to himself, spurting more blood from his mouth onto his already blood soaked shirt.

He knew about the Kuruta clan's extinction too. His own family lived nearby the forest that hid the Rukuso Region from the entire world. When the entire clan had been wiped out, they had heard of a single survivor but never seen him. Now, seeing the boy's flaming red eyes gleaming with insurmountable hatred towards the same man that he wanted dead, he might as well help the kid with his predicament by throwing his last card – the Nen curse, to the table.

He could only hope that once he threw the curse over, that the Kuruta will not take pity and instead, take the chance to end the man's life immediately.

If not… well… the "change over time" part better work out.

Using the last of his Nen, he summoned a small ball of light.

-x-

Kuroro spat blood on the ground and chuckled lightly at his assailant who defensively took stance just a few paces before him. Of course he had seen the attack coming. However, he was wondering on what else he can draw from the Kuruta.

"Impressive hit there, my little Kuruta," he said as he gracefully pulled out a napkin from one of his pockets to wipe the blood off his lower lip. "A little more practice and you might be able to hurt me."

The boy merely gritted his teeth in annoyance. The next hit will not be so light.

"Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to dance with you after all."

"Shut up!" the boy screeched as he lunged at the black-haired man. His chains lashed on the side, promising a bone-breaking landing.

Kuroro only smirked at the sight. It was the right choice to follow the jester's words after all. His Kuruta had gained a few more levels since the last time they met. Although he is still far from his prime, he can be quite a force to reckon now. Also, the boy had gained some weight and though he remained effeminate – Kuroro guessed that that part is rather permanent, not that he minded though, his lithe form promised sleek and toned muscles underneath all those layers of clothing.

And finally, those eyes… From the very start he knew why the stranger has such a strange fascination for this fruit… he meant… youth. All of the Kurutas' eyes are amazingly scarlet, earning them their other name of "organic rubies" as each pair glows wondrously red against any background – like rubies set upon any metal. But the boy's eyes were the most breathtaking pair he had ever seen since the entire massacre. All of the Kurutas died with valor and with flames eternally burning upon their eyes but none ever captivated him as the pair before him.

That reason made him want to keep the boy alive for as long as he can. The kid trailing after him and challenging him once he had overtook him were just welcome bonuses in this little game of his.

He sidestepped leftwards once to evade the chains and again to avoid the secondary attack when the boy suddenly changed his direction and yanked the chains. However, as he evaded the weapon and the Chain Assassin himself, a blinding light filled his peripheral vision from the left. He immediately hopped away from the commotion as a safety precaution.

Once the light died out, which was just a few seconds later, he was quite surprised to see no Kuruta in sight. Also, the boy's Nen seemed to have disappeared along with him. He blinked for a few times before shrugging and sighing at the loss of such a beautiful specimen.

He turned his heel eastwards, quite eager to follow the sunrise despite how cliché it must be, when the breaking of dawn was broken by the sweet, tinkling, muffled, but still frantic cry of—

"A baby?" Kuroro incredulously whispered as he curiously followed the loud wails until he came to the end of the clearing – the same place where the Kuruta might have landed had he finished his attack without the blinding-light-incident.

-x-

**AUTHOR's NOTES:** I honestly do not know what has gotten into me. My muse has returned and taken my sanity as hostage until I get this fic out of my system. Please read and review!

**Happy Birthday to my partner, Soran Ibrahim! XD **_(10/01/10)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait. I just obtained a new laptop to work with.

**Chapter 2**

"That's weird," Kuroro commented as he hopped over the low shrubs and strode towards the sound. As the baby's wails became louder, Kuroro felt the stronger urge to find it and soon enough, his ears led him to an impressive patch of tall grass.

"Do I really have to go all the trouble of finding—"

"WAAAAAAAA!"

"Fine," Kuroro sighed. "Such strong lungs…"

It was not long when a familiar sight caught his eyes. Against the greens, the orange-trimmed dark blue tribal outfit of the young Kuruta stood out quite well.

"What in…"

"WAAAAAAAA!"

Hurriedly, he made his way through the foliage and towards the muffled sound, which was coincidentally coming from underneath the cloth… clothes, actually. As after another step, Kuroro realized that not only was the outer clothing of the Kuruta laid there but also his undershirt, pants, even his dainty shoes and a plain black underwear were visible just underneath.

Following his hunch, Kuroro crouched down and took the layers of cloth away from whatever was underneath them only to find…

"A baby indeed," he said, half amused and half bewildered. Well, what in the world is a blonde baby doing underneath all of those clothes in the middle of the forest at this time of the night?

Suddenly it hit him.

He reached out for the infant's torso and raised it from the ground. Almost instantly, the baby stopped bawling and resorted into silent sobbing and occasional hiccupping instead. Kuroro stared at it bemusedly until it opened its quite red and puffy bright aquamarine eyes still half-filled with tears and hiccupped rather cutely.

He could almost hear an invisible crowd behind him chorus an "Aww…"

With small, chubby fists, the baby tried to reach for his face while cooing and gurgling happily. Kuroro only raised the baby higher and tilted his head in confusion.

"What am I going to do with you now?"

"Ka-coo! Coo! Hee! Hee hee coo!"

"Hmm, I don't presume you'll be able to speak human until some more time…"

"Goo!" the baby replied animatedly, still trying to reach for the man's face.

"Oh well, at least you make such a beautiful baby…" he peeked below the baby's waist, "…boy, Kurapika." At least there will be no questions about that anymore…

Sighing dejectedly, he weighed his options at the moment. One, he could leave the baby there and continue on his way, without a nasty Kuruta following him for ages – until the boy grows back if he ever remembers or if he ever transforms back to what he was before, and two… Well, the first option since nice enough.

He nodded slightly to himself before smiling at the baby as if the youngster could understand him. "Now, now, little Kurapika, be a good boy and stay—"

"Hu… Huwaaa! Waaaaaa! WAAAAAAA!" the baby cried out loudly, flailing his little arms about and kicking with his legs.

"Erm…"

"WAAAAAAA!"

"Uhm… Well, you see—"

"WAAAAAAA!"

"Fine! Just settle down, OK?" the fearsome leader of the Spiders placated him immediately by cradling the infant to his chest and rocking him gently. And as expected, the blonde merely snuggled and cooed in appreciation.

Kuroro sighed, "I'm supposed to be killing you now, you know…"

"Coooo!" the baby said just before yawning. He snuggled closer and fell asleep the next second.

"Such a troublesome kid, as always," Kuroro muttered to himself with a smile before gathering the blonde baby's grown up clothes with one hand and calling out his Fun Fun Cloth to store them, leaving out only the boy's undershirt.

"Well, I have to find you some decent clothes now. Be a nice little baby and continue to slumber," he whispered on the sleeping babe's ear as he gently patted the thin layer of downy blonde mane after wrapping him up with the shirt.

-x-

The last thing he remembers was a blinding flash of white light before a cool sensation numbed his entire body and he vaguely felt hitting a few bushes before rolling on the grass and some more foliage and finally losing his consciousness. Well, he does remember fighting the Spiders' leader a few moments before all of the commotion knocked him out. And he knows that the bright light certainly did not come from the direction of the said man. Hopefully, the man would simply leave him alone in the bushes and go on with his life. Of course, once he is fine again, he will go out and hunt for Kuroro Lucifer again. But right now, dying like this is not an option. The man was not even fighting, for goodness' sake! He should definitely survive this and kick that devil's ass soon.

And for a few seconds, he realized that he is not dead. He could hear things. You're not dead when you're hearing stuff, right? Right… It's definitely a good sign then.

"WAAAAAA!"

'That's a baby crying! What's a baby doing here, anyway?' he thought. And… so near him… He could probably reach the kid if he could just stretch out his hands. But first, he needs to open his eyes.

'Why is it so dark here?' he thought angrily. Surely, he is quite sure that he had his eyes are open and the night is not that dark. 'I'm not blind, am I?' Kurapika got over the reasons of his current lack of sight and was quite scared to realize that the light must have destroyed his eyes or something.

'NO!' he cried in his mind.

"WAAAAAAA!"

It is the last thing that he wanted, to have a similar end to his brothers… blind.

He was slightly panicking but quite unable to move when something, or rather, someone cared to take off all of the stuff that was blocking his eyesight.

'Ah! Great, I'm still seeing!' he thought with relief as he opened his eyes wider and adjusted to whatever light the dying night has to offer.

He was met by soulful ebony orbs, filled with confusion and amusement.

'Lucifer,' he would have growled but felt that he's not really able to.

'What's happening?' he asked himself in confusion. The next moment, he felt himself incredibly upset about the situation that he just felt like crying. He muted them bravely and ended up sobbing silently.

"What am I going to do with you now?"

'Such rich voice… Really soothing…' he thought wildly even before realizing the idea. And then again, he felt amazingly contented at the moment that he was sure he should be doing something horrible to this man but just could not put his heart to it.

A few baby giggles reached his ear.

'Oh! The baby! Where's the—'

"Hmm, I don't presume you'll be able to speak human until some more time…"

'Huh?'

"Oh well, at least you make such a beautiful baby…"

'Wait! What are you doing staring at my body like that?'

"…boy, Kurapika."

'Eh?' he thought, really confused. It took a few more seconds before it all settled in his head.

"Now, now, little Kurapika, be a good boy and stay—"

'NOOOO!' he wailed helplessly, but as expected, something else came from his mouth. 'I don't want to be a baby!'

"Erm…"

'What have you done to me, you devil?'

"Uhm… Well, you see—"

'Put me down, bastard!'

"Fine! Just settle down, OK?"

'Huh?'

"I'm supposed to be killing you now, you know?"

'You… won't?' he thought before extreme fatigue took over his body and he felt himself yawning against the man's chest. 'I guess I'll settle stuff with you later…' was his final thought before his eyelids became too heavy and he fell asleep.

'You better take good care of me.'

-x-

Kuroro's left eye twitched persistently for the fifth time that morning. He knew of all the needs of an infant. He read all about them in some of the numerous books that he had seen in his life. But he never really got the chance to apply any of them. Why would he? He's a bandit; not a nanny. He never even considered having kids. He is interested in power and wealth; women and children hold no place in his life – Spider members excluded.

…until now.

So he got his first great surprise of his life when while sorting the things that he got ("bought" is a term not inclusive enough) for the blonde baby, he felt something warm against his chest.

The look he got from the janitress of the hotel room was indescribable. What's more frustrating was that his charm that was supposed to ward such stare just made it worse.

He knew it. The Kuruta Clan is taking revenge on him!

"Danchou?" a curt, feminine voice halted his thoughts immediately. "You called?"

"Ah yes, Machi," he started, turning away from the still sleeping infant on his bed and sighing before heading towards the window to speak quietly on the phone to one of his faithful subjects. "There's something that I need your help with."

"Is this 'something' with blonde hair and blue eyes?"

"Well, yes."

"Should we lure him away or something else?"

"This is a perfectly different matter, actually. 'Something else' does not even cover it," he replied. "You have to come here immediately."

"Who should I bring with me?"

"Shalnark will do."

"OK. We'll be on our way immediately, Danchou."

He paused for a moment before sighing and deciding not to tell anything more. And he immediately ended up the call as soon as the first sign of waking up became evident on his tiny companion.

"Good morning, Kurapika, I hope you're in the mood not to pee on me now that you're awake. Try to be still as I call for breakfast."

'I certainly did not wet my… uhm… diapers!'

"Coooo! Gooo hee!" the baby gurgled, on the verge of being upset.

A knock on the door cut off the two one-sided communications between the two: Kuroro trying to understand baby-talk and Kurapika trying to make Kuroro understand through baby-talk. None of them are being successful. And for once, Kuroro really, really wished that Pakunoda was still alive.

"I guess, Paku tailing me all the time is not a very bad idea by now…"

-x-

**A/N: ** Ah yes… I'm alive and with a different laptop! Again, this is unbeta-ed, unrevised, unre-read… Idk… I uploaded it once I'm done with it.

XD One update down, three to go! Yes, I'll update Balance and Second Chase this week too. And I'll probably upload a new one, which is a Kyo Kara Maou piece.

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I'm back. Haha. Dadadiary first! Thank you very much to the anonymous reviewers. Sorry for the long wait too. It was rather hard newscasting at a radio station in the mornings and teaching in the evenings. I kinda realized that there are only 24 hours a day. But university had started again so I'll probably have some time.

**Chapter 3**

Killua is bored.

"Gon, any luck with your dad from our informer?" he asked, lightly nibbling the end of a pocky stick.

The other boy looked up from the water to his friend, hanging upside-down on the tree branch above. "No," Gon replied as he looked back to the water again. "He just… disappeared. Again."

"Not the first time, buddy," Killua absent-mindedly replied as he swung back to a normal position and took the entire sweet whole in his mouth. "Wanna get the others on the case? I bet this'll be good if your dad wants a chase," he added after chewing and swallowing.

Honestly, he believes that his other two friends are already suicidal freaks by now. Leorio in Med-school and Kurapika assisting in the local library would have driven any sane yet qualified Hunter nuts three months earlier. Those two guys need a good adventure; and chasing after Gin Freecs—again—seems to be not a very bad idea.

Gon smiled as he pulled against the creature that was caught by his fishing rod's hook. "Yeah, why not?"

"Right, I'll get Kurapika on the line," Killua announced as he dug on his pocket for his phone. Technically, Leorio would be easier bait, since the term at school is already ending, but Kurapika is usually the one who calls the shots.

He pushed a speed dial and waited, but after a while of hearing nothing but the blond boy's voice mail intro, he sighed and decided to call the older one's number.

"Hello? Killua?" the man from the other line exclaimed. "I'm not expecting a call."

"Whatever. Get me Kurapika, pops."

"W-what?" Leorio said, rather taken aback.

"I said, get me Kurapika. I need to talk to him," Killua repeated. He's not really in the mood to be patient right now.

"I thought he's with you!" the man exclaimed, not liking the situation at all.

"Have you gone senile? He lives with you…still…doesn't he?"

"Well, technically, yeah. But he haven't been around for more than a week now and he left telling me that he plans to visit you—"

"Then he should've called you when he saw us!" the boy shouted. This is not the first time that their blond friend has suddenly gone missing.

"Well, I figured out that since you kids like to hang around the most unlikely places – like inside a stupid game, he must be having a hard time finding you!" the other screamed as well.

"What's the matter?" With all the shouting above his fishing spot, Gon decided to butt in.

Killua gritted his teeth. "Well, I'll call you later then pops," he said hastily and ending the call without waiting for the reply. He then faced Gon for the bad news.

"Kurapika's gone. Again! Seriously, what is wrong with that guy?" the boy exasperatedly clenched his hand to his phone, yet being careful not to break it. "Ah, damn if I realized this is going to happen, we shouldn't have left him with that idiot!"

Gon, realizing that Killua is hinting on the last time that Kurapika had run away, only to be found half dead and under at least a dozen tons of snow, decided that it was about time he speak his mind on the matter. Carefully letting go of the creature he just caught and reeling back his fishing line, he said, "He's following him again, right?"

"Must be," Killua answered with gritted teeth. "He only gets as stupid as this when it comes to running after the Spider's head." How many times do they have to pull the impulsive Kuruta from completely falling off the gutter? He had long understood what the blonde meant by revenge, but to chase after the world's best thief and worst killer…without help? Alone?

The boy hissed a curse as he deftly hoped down from his branch. "Come on, Gon," he said, prompting his best friend to start gathering their things. "Leorio will probably be going nuts now. We have to be there before he does something stupider than normal."

Gon laughed goodheartedly at that before securing his pack to his back. "You know," he started. "I had a dream last night."

Killua, who had started leading the way out of their secluded fishing spot, 'hmm-ed' to show that he is listening as he leaped from tree branch to tree branch.

"But it's quite different," Gon added, carefully dodging the flying piece of wood that his best friend accidentally sent his way while leaping at breakneck speed. "We're… small…"

"Nen Reminder: We're stuck in this size because of Ten—"

"No! I mean, smaller. Like… little kids. Toddlers!" Gon explained, not bothering to slow down.

Killua slowed down just to smack his friend on the head.

"But Kurapika," Gon continued. "He's even smaller."

Killua halted at that, and Gon, who did not anticipate that move, crashed to him. After a brief moment of disentangling their limbs from one another, Killua exclaimed.

"How the hell is that even possible? Kurapika is older than us, you idiot!"

The boy then proceeded to smacking his spiky-haired best friend on the head repeatedly with a random twig that they brought down with them.

"I know—OW!" Gon answered amidst the beating. "That's why it doesn't make any se-OW-sense!"

The young Zoldyck heir promptly stopped abusing Gon's head and stared at the sky which was then starting to grow darker with some ominous, gray clouds. "Yeah… And something's telling me that we have to take note of that."

"Take note of wha—"

"Hi kids!"

"YOU!" Gon and Killua exclaimed together, both of them hopping backwards at a safer distance.

The youth raised his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender as his companions blinked beside him. "Well, well… Long time no see?" he said, cheerfully smiling at the two youngsters.

"What do you want from us?" the more aggressive one, Killua this time, stepped forward as Gon stood defensively just a few steps behind.

The youth cheerfully scratched the back of his head as he spoke, "Actually, we're just passing by… No need for a fight, really."

The tension seeped deeper to the atmosphere before the youth decided to end the little game.

"Honestly," he started. "We're just strolling when you came crashing out of the trees! We—"

"Shal, Danchou's waiting," the mass of aqua hair beside the youth spoke calmly yet rather urgently. "Stop playing games." The little figure then quickly disappeared towards the foliage in front of them, followed by a weird collection of sounds coming from the mummy-looking man sprinting after it.

"Yeah yeah, coming," the young man retorted with a sigh. "I guess there's no more time to catch up? See you soon then!" He immediately disappeared to the forest too after a quick good-natured wave.

"The Spiders…" Gon spoke through clenched teeth. Despite the quick and peaceful exchange, it is still a rather close one.

"What makes me think that this is not the last time we'll be dealing with them?" Killua sighed.

-x-

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

The shout was ended by an angry glare and a promise of pain both from a single pair of eyes.

The man continued, more quietly this time, "Danchou called you to deal with the Chain-user? Only you and Shalnark? Impossible!"

"Maybe he knows how stupid you can get."

"Why you—"

Strings bound the two figures, which are about to clash against each other and probably wreck some furniture, apart. One was a small man while the other is of average height and is already wielding an unsheathed katana.

"I am not having any fights here in my apartment!" another man shouted from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mom!" Nobunaga spitefully replied.

The person let out a very significantly stressed curse word before resuming whatever he is doing at the kitchen.

Machi only sighed helplessly as she stared out the living room window, wondering what their Danchou is up to this time.

"Any news about the Chain-Assassin?" Nobunaga nonchalantly asked as he sat back down and started cleaning his katana. The strings disappeared almost instantaneously.

Feitan snorted and said, "You're not quite as sharp as your sword, eh Nobu?"

"Shu—"

"Danchou's calling me for that," the only female said, letting her hair down and scratching her scalp for tangles. "I think the brat's giving him problems."

"Again?" the samurai, angrily exclaimed. "I don't even get it why Danchou keeps the bastard alive! There are so many chances that we could've killed that kid but Danchou never allows us! It's… it's… it's so frustrating!" he added with clenched fists, effectively crushing the bottle of sword-cleaning liquid in his fist. "Damn! This one's expensive!"

The sounds from the kitchen stopped abruptly as a man walked towards the living room. "The freakin' carpet's way more expensive, you moron!" the owner of the apartment, Phinx, angrily reprimanded him. "I got that from Deszahein and that's one of a kind!" the man with no eyebrows said, angry veins visible on his forehead.

A small fight cloud ensued right after that.

"Do you think Danchou would let us kill the Chain-Guy?" a calm, little voice asked from a corner. "I mean, would he ever allow us to?"

"Danchou had changed, Shizuku" Franklin said with a sigh. "Therefore, I don't think so."

"Wanna bet?" Feitan countered, totally ignoring the cloud of fists and feet.

"A hundred grand, Danchou wouldn't let us this time," Machi interjected.

-x-

It was barely two days when he became stuck with such a baggage and all he could think of is how adorable it is and how largely advantageous the situation is for him.

Yes. Life is good.

"Excuse me, Mr. Kuroro?" a voice broke through his thoughts accompanied by some shuffling from the other side of the door; he must have missed the knocks after zoning out.

"Yes?" he replied, positioning himself closer to the slumbering child just in case anything unexpected happens that might push him to escape quickly.

"Someone is looking for you at the reception area but the phone lines are not working due to the monthly maintenance…" the female voice said, which he quickly identifies as one of the attendants in the hotel.

"Please come in," he offered but he remained in his place even as the lady came inside. "Who is it?" he asked, wondering if it was Machi or Shalnark that had made it there first. There are quite a handful of Nen-users in the area and all of them are in Zetsu so he can never be sure who's who.

"It's a tall man with black hair… He didn't tell me his name, sir."

"Is he carrying a sword?" he inquired. For all he knew, it could be Nobunaga.

"No, sir," the girl replied. "But he did give me this and told me to hand it to you." She rummaged a little in her pockets as she retrieved the object. She then carefully handed it over to Kuroro who knew it even before the girl took it out of her pocket.

"Is he still there?" Kuroro asked, his eyes focused on the object.

"He left immediately," the girl replied. "My colleagues and I are quite confused as well."

Kuroro lifted his gaze and stared at the sleeping baby.

"If you'd like, we can move you to another room for your protection," the girl said rather eagerly. "The man is rather creepy…"

Kuroro wanted to laugh at that but instead he managed a good-natured smile that reduced the attendant into a sort of blushing and stammering slush. "Don't worry about me. That was just an old friend wanting some serious conversation. It's nothing really," he said, assuring the young lady that everything is fine and stashing the thing to his pocket.

"A-alright Mr. K-kuroro, but I'll alert you a-at once if he comes back," the girl said, looking very determined. "And please t-tell me or any of the st-staff if he continues to trouble you, OK?"

"No problem," Kuroro replied, still with his best carefree smile as he followed the girl out of the suite with his eyes.

As soon as the girl was out of site, he pulled the object back from his pocket and stared at it again. Baby Kurapika, who had only opened his eyes at the moment, giggled loudly at the colorful thing.

"It's just like you to be attracted at things most dangerous to you, Kurapika," Kuroro softly spoke, teasing the baby before finally handing him the Joker card.

"I wonder what you're thinking right now," he muttered to himself. "Hisoka…"

**A/N: **Yes, Hisoka dyed his hair black. I don't know how it will look like, though. O_O And nothing really happened here, just an introduction of the characters that will take part in the story. I'm working now on the next chapters of my other fics, although Dadadiary could get updated soon too. Again, sorry for the long wait...


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: **Hunter X Hunter and its characters belong to its creator and publishers. I own nothing.

**A/N:** …hello… again… Due to insistent public demand, and because I love you guys, Da Da Diary Chapter 4 (unpolished, unedited, unbeta-ed) is up! Please leave a review!

ALSO, on a more important note, **KOREANS out there**, or those who can read Korean writing, _**BALANCE: The Collision of Light and Dark is now translated in KOREAN**_**!** If you would be so kind as to access the links in my profile, you can read **BALANCE** as translated by my good friend, **GaEun**. Just remove the spaces.

**Chapter 4**

"No. I'll repeat it. It doesn't make sense."

A young woman said curtly, her violet hair billowing with the wind rushing through the passenger seat of her comrade's convertible.

"It doesn't?" another man growled, but a bit more subdued now than what had been earlier. "Well, then, maybe the Chain Guy's found a new-"

"C'mon, Nobu, let it up" a younger man said behind the wheel. "It's cool, man. It's not really a distress signal. Just leave this to me and Machi. I'm sure we'll be able to sort things out."

The one called Nobu mumbled something under his breath before letting out a frustrated growl. "Just… Just call me if the brat gives you any trouble."

The younger man was about to reply when the woman named Machi snorted, "Yeah, whatever."

An argument should have erupted but the young man suddenly said, rather cheerfully, either with relief or just plain vigor, "Look Nobu, here's your stop!"

"Oh, yeah," Nobu said, sounding rather surprised. "I guess I'll see you when I see you."

"Don't get over-dramatic-"

"Machi doesn't mean anything bad by that, now go on, Nobu. Bring back news from the city, OK?" the young man quickly interrupted, suffering a fierce glare from Machi and obviously preferring it over another pingpong match of deadly verbal projectiles from his two companions.

Nobu stepped out of the car but stopped at the door and stared into the young man's eyes. "Don't mess up Shalnark. And tell Danchou, I want to personally deal with the Kuruta soon," he said as he closed the door and walked towards the desert.

"Hmm, if messing up was the case, didn't he do that last time?" Shalnark turned to Machi and cheerfully asked, as he revved the engine of the car.

"Winter, North of Lerfim," Machi replied, looking out at the window towards the desert and the quickly disappearing figure of their comrade. "Danchou said act as diversion. The boy ended up almost dead when he clashed with Nobunaga and Phinx."

"Yeah, pretty messy too," Shalnark replied as he started on the road again. "You did quite a job fixing the arms of those two, though, as well as Feitan's left arm and Phinx's leg. And we almost lost Coltopi – good thing the two are not very far and distracted our Kuruta. I can't believe the kid was able to do that much damage though. He's gotten too strong for comfort. I was rather hopeful Nobu's final strike did him."

"Yes, but remember what happened to Danchou?" Machi said, rather vaguely. "I've never seen him show that much emotion."

Shalnark chuckled, "With the way things are going, it's only a matter of time before Danchou gets too fond of the kid."

Machi narrowed her eyes. Maybe, Shalnark really is more than just a smiling geeky bastard.

-x-

"I hope you would just eat without any fuss, you know?" Kuroro said, sighing as he scooped another of the orange jelly-textured blob that was supposed to be baby food.

"Goo…"

He raised an eyebrow as the little blonde baby whom he was currently babysitting reached out to its hands toward his face instead of the food. "Right, maybe you don't want to eat?"

"Coo coo!" the baby said, then it giggled happily.

"He just wants you to lift him up, sir," a young girl's voice said.

"Hm?" Kuroro politely hummed his response and turned to the girl's direction. The girl blushed furiously as she continued her job on mopping the area on the floor that the baby Kurapika had just squirted milk from his bottle on.

"A-ah, I'm so s-sorry… I didn't mean to i-interrupt," she said as she fidgeted and cleaned at the same time.

Kuroro smiled at her, hoping to get any sort of help. "Oh, it's quite OK. I'm glad you told me that," he said as he left the food on a nearby table and lifted baby up instead. "I'm not really any good at children so I don't really know what to do."

"Oh, alright," the girl replied kindly. "I'll just finish this mess and I'll tell you what I can."

"Thank you very much!"

"Y-your welcome…"

Kuroro actually never used his charm this way. Usually, it's to gain information for a much bigger cause. He never thought there would be a day that he would depend on his looks to save himself from the responsibility of caring for a baby.

'_Maybe I should have left you there. It would have been less troublesome_,' he thought all the while staring at the baby.

Unfortunately, baby Kurapika seemed to understand.

"G-goo…g-gwa…" the baby started.

Kuroro's eyes widened for a moment. He was certain that not another moment from now, the warning sob would come, then the big guns.

"Hic… WAAAAH!"

"Aww, there, there…" the girl said as she left her mop and scooped the baby out of Kuroro's arms with surprising speed. "Don't cry little one. No one's here to hurt you," she said in a voice so consoling, Kuroro would have thrown up had he been a little less civilized.

However, that very instant, the baby sobbed a tiny, adorable hiccup and clutched at the girl's apron.

"Isn't he the cutest thing?" the girl said, lifting the baby higher to the air and turning towards Kuroro with an expectant gaze. For some reason, Kuroro wondered if it was the same expecting look that was now making the baby's blue eyes wider – as if with anticipation for confirmation.

How was he going to say no to that?

"Y-yes," he said, sounding both noncommittal yet convinced. "Yes he is."

"There," the girl happily exclaimed with a nod then turned the baby to her. "He said you're cute! Now, what do you want to do, little one?"

"Coooo…" the baby said, as if understanding every word then reaching out towards Kuroro.

"Oh," the girl said.

"Oh?" Kuroro said, rather confused. "Oh what?" He never thought he would hate a language in his life. Usually, he found them fascinating and very informative and he prided himself for learning languages in such inhuman speed that left everyone else in awe. Now, he just hated Baby-Talk.

"He wants you."

"What?"

-x-

'_Why are you looking at me like that? A-are you blaming me for this situation, you stupid evil bastard?_' he thought, crushing down every smidgen of other emotions inside him and focusing on that tiny string of hatred. '_This is your fault!_'

"G-goo…g-gwa…"

Eyes widened in front of him in shock and helpless anticipation.

'_I hate you!'_

"Hic… WAAAAH!"

"Aww, there, there…" he heard, as another person picked him up. By the feel of the person's hands on the exposed side of his belly, he knew instantly that this is a female before even taking a good look at her. "Don't cry little one. No one's here to hurt you," she said sweetly.

'_Believe me lady, I'd like to think that's the case too_,' he thought, clutching at the lady's apron.

"Isn't he the cutest thing?" the lady said in such an expectant tone.

Kurapika got an evil idea.

'_Kuroro, you devil, I may be small but I'm sure as hell I'll give you troubles you never foresaw!_' he thought as he mustered all of his baby strength and wills and focused on his facial muscles. If he cannot beat the devil with his chains, then he'll torture him with his charms – his little baby charms. '_I'm sounding like a scheming bastard…_'

"Y-yes," Kuroro replied. "Yes he is."

'_Gotcha._'

"Coooo…" he said, reaching out to Kuroro.

'_W-wait, my hand… I didn't mean to-_'

"Oh," the girl said.

"Oh?" Kuroro said, rather confused. "Oh what?"

"He wants you."

'_WHAT?_'

"What?"

'_I most certainly DO NOT!_'

"Coo-ku-gee! Gee! Waaa! WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Oh dear! No, no, no, please don't cry pretty one. The bad mister doesn't mean it," the girl said, while gently rocking him in a very comforting manner.

-x-

"Coo-ku-gee! Gee! Waaa! WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Oh dear! No, no, no, please don't cry pretty one. The bad mister doesn't mean it," the girl said in a mock-baby voice as she rocked Kurapika comfortingly, all the while, whispering sweet nonsense of baby-comfort on the baby's ears.

After a few moments, and when the crying subsided and Kurapika had fallen asleep – leaving the baby food forgotten, the girl turned towards him, looking a bit… annoyed.

No girl has ever looked at him like that – well, save for those females looking for vengeance, but they were all gazing with burning hatred, this one is just…plain irritated.

It must be his unlucky day.

"You don't have to say that!" the girl hissed at her, clearly careful not to wake the baby. She was slightly fuming as she continued to rock the sleeping blonde thing.

"Excuse me?"

"You've upset him!" she said, sounding protective. "Babies are very sensitive to human emotions. They usually don't know what's happening around them but they sure can feel it."

Kuroro just nodded with this piece of information. Of course he knew that, but he never really thought of having a baby with him in this lifetime…or the next…

"You should be more careful in handling him," she said, pouting, as she approached Kuroro. "He may seem like a helpless, but he's intelligent too." She carefully passed the baby to Kuroro's arms. "He knows," she said as she gathered her cleaning materials and headed for the door.

Kuroro followed her with his gaze and asked, "How did you know so many things about babies?"

"Oh, I'm… I have two kids already," she said as she reached the door. "They may be a handful most of the times but they really know how to pay you back."

"What do you mean?"

"If you love him just right, he'll love you even more, mister," she replied, smiling. "Don't worry if you don't know what to do, just try to understand him more. You'll do just fine."

Kuroro gazed blankly at her, then peered back to the slumbering baby in his arms. In his sleep, baby Kurapika looks just so innocent… and painfully adorable.

The girl was already turning the door when she said, "If… If you don't mind… Is he… Is the child yours?"

Kuroro was lost as to what to answer to that but he settled for the truth. "No."

"Oh."

There was a pregnant pause before the girl stepped outside and said, "It's just… he seems to like you so much…"

Another pause.

"Ah! It's getting late and I have a lot more to do!" the girl said, sounding a little fidgety again. "I hope I'll see you again, sir. Good bye for now!"

"See you," Kuroro said. "Thank you very much, by the way," he added, just in time before the door closed, but he managed to catch the smile on the girl's face.

"Babies," he muttered to himself. "Bane of men and women," he said with a slight snort while unconsciously cuddling the baby closer.

-x-

"Getting all too soft, Danchou? Ooh, that little thing sure looks familiar…"

-x-

Oh, he's going to kill that bastard alright. Leaving again without any notice then chasing after the most dangerous person in like a million miles? What in heaven's name is Kurapika thinking anyway? And now, he cannot do anything but wait for the kids to arrive.

"I hate this!" he screamed, scaring the fluffy white cat off Kurapika's place in the couch.

"Oh, I'm sorry P-chan," Leorio grumbled as he grabbed the slightly indignant cat to his lap and scratched the back of its ears affectionately. "I just hate it when your idiot master leaves us like this."

"Mew" the cat purred happily, indulging itself in the attention.

Leorio sighed, unconsciously petting the cat even more. "I can't believe someone so intelligent could be so stupid at the most important points."

"Purrrrr."

"Damn it, I got an exam tomorrow and I can't focus on studying with these worries in my head."

"Purrrrr."

"Where the hell are those kids anyway? They're supposed to be here by now!

"Purrrrr.

"At least you like me enough to not leave me, eh P-chan?"

"Mew!"

"…?"

"Purrrr…"

"If you pee on me again, I swear I'll eat you."

-x-

It was already early morning and the sky was breaking brightly – a sign of a warm sunny day. Killua decided that it's already time.

"Gon, wake up."

"Hn?"

"Wake up!"

Gon yawned and stretched as he stood up from his bed of dried leaves in the warmest spot of their cave. "Good morning, Killua."

"Shut up and eat," Killua said as he handed Gon some roasted fish – part of their catch yesterday.

Gon frowned. Killua has been angry at him after he got them lost in the jungle, two nights ago. "Hey Killua, I'm really sorry. I really thought that it was the right way…"

"I know," Killua replied with a sigh. "I'm sorry I was rude… It's fine Gon. We've already defeated the trickster, we'll get out today."

Gon nodded, looking a bit hopeful that his friend has already forgiven them and slightly relieved as well. For some reason, they had fallen into a trap and was caught there, circling the entire forest but never able to get out for a night and an entire day. However, last night, as they were ambushed, they managed to shut the trickster down by beating the living hell out of him and his companions. The trap has lifted and they can finally see the way out.

If Gon had not insisted on finding the way and instead, listened to Killua's plea of finding a trickster, it would have been a lot faster. Gon had been sure that there was a loophole, but they needed timing to get through. They tried and missed a handful of times before Killua gave up and said he was going to sleep it over, hoping that the trickster would ambush them instead. Sure enough, at the darkest hour of the night, a fight broke out.

It was quite fast, a gang of regular bandits with a rather capable Transformation-Nen-User as their leader. Apparently, the leader can transform shadows into images and mist into a sort of barrier that kept their victims inside. It was not a very strong form of Hatsu but the trick in itself is clever and they have unknowingly fallen into all of the binds, making the curse stronger despite the week force behind it.

Fortunately, they look like pushover kids and the gang thought it would be fun beating them up. That way, they got a chance of breaking the force instead of dealing with the curse.

"I'll be more careful…" Gon said, halfheartedly chewing his breakfast. "I was so confident in my skills that I…"

"Don't sweat it. Things like this happen, Gon," Killua said, smiling a little. "I said it's OK."

Gon started to grin brightly, "OK."

"Let's go home," Killua said.

"Yeah. Let's."

The morning never looked this bright.


End file.
